The Madness of Midas' Hand {Private w/ Dawn and Diggy}

Serena stared intently at the window, observing the landscape with not much interest. There wasn’t much to look at due to the fluffy white clouds and occasional manmade structures from below. It sucked even more that this plane didn’t have any televisions to occupy her through the flight. She sighed to herself, thinking that the best option now was to get some sleep.

“Hey,” Serena heard Alec say quietly. She looked at him unwillingly, surprised that he was starting a conversation. “You still have to sing for me.” He said, keeping his voice down low. The fifteen year old bit her lip, amazed that he remembered all this time. For awhile she didn’t know what to reply because she hadn’t prepared anything and secondly because she noticed that his dark circles under his eyes were all gone; with his pale skin enhancing his light cobalt blue eyes.

She forced a smile and let out a laugh. “I don’t think so.” she replied with a voice that had a hint of playfulness. “You still have to let me hear you play and obviously, you don’t have a guitar.” Serena shrugged at him as she fiddled around with the zipper of her hoodie. “Right now isn’t a good time anyway since there are a number of people sleeping.” Serena motioned her head to Nezza’s direction. Nice save, she mentally congratulated herself.

“Unless, you know, you changed your mind about it; it’s fine with me.” She said, shifting her weight comfortably on her seat.

Last edited by DawnWild16 on Sat Nov 17, 2012 9:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

TSomething stirred in Alec's stomach when he heard Serena's laugh. He didn't know the reason why, but he faintly remembers the last time he felt something like that. As he forced the memory out of his mind, he found himself grinning back at his fifteen year old friend. He always found himself in a light and cheerful mood whenever he was around her. She was a ray of sunshine, no pun intended.

While he studied her face, he wondered if he could ever picture himself with her. There were too many complications. First of all, their age. at eighteen years old, he was three years older than her. What would happen if he had to leave camp? He couldn't force Serena to leave just because he was and long distance relationships never worked out for him. If they decided to go that route, he guessed that their blossoming friendship would go downhill.

Second, Kate was still a major factor in his life. The on-and-off couple hadn't established their relationship status as of the moment and the thought was killing Alec softly. He didn't know whether or not he was cheating on his British girlfriend whenever he'd unconsciously flirt with Serena. The idea bothered him. There was a definite fine line between having the appearance of a bad boy and actually being one.

And lastly, he has heard some rumors about Serena's admirers back at Camp Half-Blood. The last thing Alec heard was that she was being pursued by some Aphrodite kid. However, it was harder to picture her with some blonde-haired pretty boy than himself. In fact, he'd rather not think about it at all.

Judging by his thoughts, Alec had no ounce of romantic feelings in Serena. She was his close friend or buddy, if you may. The weird sensation in his stomach may have been due to the lack of food, he finally decided.

"Alright, alright," laughed the eighteen year old, holding his hands up in defeat. "I'm still going to pester you at Camp if you forget about it, though," he warned.

"I haven't changed my mind, Serena. No worries," he assured her with a lazy smile on his face. There if goes again. The fluttery feeling in his stomach. He needed to grab a bite soon.

"D'you mind if we stop by Taco Bell when we get to Seattle? I'm starving."

Predictably, Alec didn’t press the matter any longer but he promised he wouldn’t forget. It was fine as long as Serena bought herself some more time. "I haven't changed my mind, Serena. No worries.” The daughter of Apollo raised her eyebrow at him, wondering why this all seemed necessary. She had a lot of brothers and sisters that could sing as well as she could but then she remembered she was the one who asked if she could hear the son of Khione play. She then pondered why she always had to put herself in these kinds of situations.

"D'you mind if we stop by Taco Bell when we get to Seattle? I'm starving."Alec asked. When the thought of food entered her mind, she became aware of her stomach’s emptiness. When was the last time they had a decent meal? “Okay.” She merely said with another small smile. Maybe things between them were getting better between the two halfbloods. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah. I feel fine, Serena. Thanks.” Nezza awoke cheerfully; back to her old self like nothing had happened. All that was probably the effects of the Ambrosia.“No prob.”Serena grinned."Do you think we could find a Mexican restaurant? I'm craving for some tacos for breakfast!" The fifteen year old looked at the daughter of Nyx with a puzzled expression. “Why? Is there something going on with Mexican food all of the sudden?”She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

It was a coincidence that both of her companions craved for Mexican food for breakfast but she just decided to shrug it off. Variations were good once in a while because she had too much McDonald’s in a week. “Then Taco Bell it is.”

The trio entered the small franchise of Taco Bell not long after they’ve landed on Seattle. The weather was pleasant and the smell of different salsas and some burritos filled the air. Serena devoured her share with no hesitation. All the flavors harmonized each other that she thought she is going to cry. Sometimes she thought she ate like a man or maybe she had the appetite of a teenage boy even. Nonetheless she had ordered 3 Gordita Supreme-beefs and a tall glass of Mountain Dew. Her diet has always been like this but luckily she was able to keep her slender frame.

The daughter of Apollo mildly choked with all the food but she managed to ask where they planned to go next after she helped herself with some soda. The sad thing is she’s never been outside Long Island so she hoped that they could go for a bit of sight seeing first. She unconsciously frowned at the thought. But by the looks of things, they don’t have all the time in the world. Citizens are growing suspicious on the numerous disappearances and obviously the new gold statue shop or whatever it was called had something to do with it. Slowly, it has been creeping its way to National television and inevitably the mortals are starting to become more aware.

Serena ran her fingers through her hair and tied it into a sleek ponytail as she watched the morning news. “Looks like we better keep going soon.”

Nezza had to resist scrunching up her nose as she stepped through the doors of Taco Bell. She didn't know what had gotten into her to suddenly want to eat some tacos today but Nezza thought she might at least try. She'd seen from movies that most of the people ate tacos with their hands in places like these and that was no different to the sight she was seeing right now.

With a little apprehension, she and the rest walked to a table and a servant immediately gave them each a menu. None of the food looked quite appetizing to her nor did she think she could finish something as humongous as a double deck taco supreme. In the end, Nezza settled with a Fiesto Taco Salad- Beef though she hoped it was a salad because judging by the picture, it looked more like a bigger version of an opened taco.

The daughter of Nyx couldn't help but stare a little at how fast Serena was devouring her food. She could never imagine herself eating like that but Nezza guessed it came from the hardwired etiquettes and manners she learned in her old life.

When her order came in, she knew her assumptions about the open taco was right as she stared at her supposed "salad". Sighing, she ate it slowly in small chunks and realized that it actually had a nice flavor to it. Before she even knew it, Nezza had finished the whole thing which was huge to say the least, and she shockingly wanted more.

Of course, that was out of the question since they were in a quest and they couldn't possibly stay in an area for too long less monsters get a track of their scents. Nezza most definitely did not want a repeat of the train station event again. Besides, people were starting to notice the strange things happening around them and Nezza wished the Mist could work miracles for them as to prolong the bad news of the disappearances and gold.

I swear, when we survive this quest, I'm throwing out all my stash of gold jewelry to the lake.

Nezza nodded her head in agreement with Serena's words and not a moment later, they had payed the bill and left the store.

The surrounding areas of the place had few people littering around which should have been the first clue to Nezza that something was wrong. They passed by buildings and structures, looking for the Amazons hide out but they kept getting lost, even ending up into dead ends all because they were following Alec's "sense of direction".

Not taking it any longer, Nezza said as patiently as she could, "Alec, I know you're doing your best looking for the Amazons but maybe, we should follow a girl's intuition in this instead since we are looking for a bunch of women after all. "

She swiveled around, planning on walking back to where they came from when a sound to her left caught her attention. They were in some sort of open land complex since there were many open lots and abandoned buildings in the area. The noise she heard before was somewhere inside a building which had dozens of glass windows plastered on it.

Nezza walked cautiously inside, the others trailing behind her. It was eerily quiet and she noticed, not for the first time, that there weren't any people around. That tingling feeling that something bad is going to happen made her heart beat faster as she took in the sight of rundown and dusty furniture and broken down panelings.

Suddenly, the sound of like a vacuum cleaner came and Nezza only had time to duck while dragging her companions along with her as a fireball blasted through the air where their heads had been. Nezza looked up to find where the source of the fireballs came from and her eyes widened in fear at the sight of a hydra as tall as the second floor came running at them.

Much to his amusement, Serena cocked an eyebrow at him. The confused expression on her face threatened to make Alec guffaw, but he stifled it and only let a small chuckle escape his lips. He couldn't decipher why, but this girl had the ability to hold his interest much longer than anyone has ever done.

After mentioning Taco Bell, a small smile graced her face as she muttered an agreement. He opened his mouth to ask her about the type of relationship she shared with the son of Aphrodite back at camp, but they were startled when Nezza jolted awake. He bit back a groan. He had been meaning to ask about the topic, but could never find the appropriate time to do so. Thanks Nezza.

Watching quietly as Serena exhibited her expertise in the medial area as she aided their third companion. He had started to grown fond of the young girls and didn't want to think about what would happen after the quest. He wondered if everything would just go back to normal, be switched off like a light switch.

With the additional help from a map and a friendly guard (who seemed like reluctant about three 'kids' traveling together), they managed to locate a Taco Bell not far from the airport. Surprisingly, the sun was shining in Seattle. He always had the impression that Washington would be similar to his hometown in England.

He ordered a plate of Nachos Bellgrande and a drink named Strawberry Fruitista Freeze (strawberries were his weakness, along with cherries). Also, he bought an extra bottled energy drink to quench his thirst later on.

Seated across from his friends, he watched curiously as the two devoured their food like hungry animals. Nezza was tame, but Serena… whoa. That girl could seriously scarf down food down her throat fast. He didn't eat as fast as they did for he wanted to savor each bite.

When they finished, Alec noticed Serena's eyes glued to something, turning around he caught the sight of the morning news. "That's not good," he muttered to himself.

Alec tossed a few bills on the table, not caring if they were twenties or hundreds, so they could dash out of the franchise.

He had heard from around camp that the Amazons stayed at some nice building. You couldn't miss it, one of the campers had said. Alec hated feeling useless and perhaps this was his time to prove his worth. "Hey, I think I know where they are." With that note, he jogged to the whereabouts of where magic seemed to linger.

They wandered around town, passing buildings and cars. This part of town seemed out of the ordinary, somewhere he'd picture a bunch of female warriors. But soon enough, the cars stopped appearing and the buildings seemed lifeless. He frowned. He was sure he felt something sketchy about this place.

"There's something weird about this place. I can sense it. It's like there's a bunch of stuff relating to our culture here," he said, referring to their second lifestyle as demigods.

He followed Nezza inside a glass-filled building. Alec admired the contemporary feel to the area and could see this as a work place for a well-known company.

When he saw all the broken decor, he wondered who would be pissed enough to trash the place. And that's when he heard the sound. It rang in his ears like alarms. He thought about why he hadn't noticed it before. It was like someone was cleaning up the area. But he was sure that if someone got the Ajax, fireballs wouldn't appear out of nowhere.

He was lucky that Nezza pulled him down before his hair could get burnt off. Turning his head around, he muttered a profanity when a giant hydra came bolting towards them.

Alec got to his feet, unsheathing his sword as he ran towards the creature. He moved swiftly from side to side, avoiding anymore fire being spit out by the monster. Once he was close enough, he used a table to hoist himself up and he leaped, jumping high enough to be able to slash his sword through one of the hydra's heads.

He felt triumphant when the head fell to the ground, expecting the hydra to get weaker, but he hadn't really listened to his companions who were screaming at him. He looked back at them, puzzled, but the sickening sound of a head resurfacing from a decapitated body forced his attention back to the hydra.

"Crap," he said drily. His attempt at making their job a bit easier took a toll when the hydra grew two more heads. He sprinted away from the monster before more harm could be done, occasionally throwing sharp ice splinters, hoping one would penetrate through the creature's skin and through its heart.

The daughter of Apollo folded her arms because her stomach was starting to get a bit uneasy. The food was great and all but thanks to the morning news, they had to catch up with the new extremities their quest had in store. She followed the two other demigods from behind until they found themselves in a glass-filled building. It was a bit trashed which was pretty unfortunate because the building made the town less normal in a good way because of its sleek design. The thing is, having a sleek design doesn't include humongous fireballs that can toast random passerby's here and there.

Serena ducked to her left and before her stood a scaly purple beast with massive heads and glowing cat-like eyes. "Woah there. Alec, are you sure we're in the right place?" A soft laugh escaped her lips and she carefully stood up, grasping her bow as she tried to back away from it. She glanced back at her companions and surprisingly Alec was coming after it with his sword unsheathed. Serena watched him in awe as he bravely tried to do some damage on the Hydra but he just forgot a crucial detail; you can't behead a Hydra because it will just grow back more heads. She remembered that in Disney's Hercules and predictably, the Hydra underwent rapid mitosis. She cringed at the site of its faces. Did it just grin?

There was no one to blame for this because bad luck always seemed to find them. "It's okay, we're not entirely screwed. Hey, we were able to escape Hell well didn't we?" Serena said, carefully aiming her arrow to the Hydra's heart. Just when she was about to release her arrow, a low but still recognizably feminine voice erupted through her ears. "Stop! It's our kill." The Hydra let out a roar and chased after its new prey. Examining their getup, no doubt these intimidating women were the Amazons.

"After you." The daughter of Apollo pressed her lips in a thin line and loosened her grip.

Alec, you stupid, idiotic, brave demigod, you.Nezza thought as she rushed to where Alec had fallen after he unfortunately sliced one of the heads of the Hydra which resulted to two more growing in its place. He was caught surprised by the tail that threw him ten feet into the air and landed in a pile of rubble. He was lucky that Nezza just so happened to be inches from said pile and caught him before he could fatally injure himself.

Nezza didn't want to leave the monster against Serena alone because as much as she knew that girl was deadly with her arrows, a weapon like that wouldn't easily kill the Hydra, probably just annoy it. So when a group of warrior-looking girls arrived in the scene, she breathed a sigh of relief when Nezza noticed they were intent on destroying the Hydra instead of them.

From where the daughter of Nyx sat with Alec's head lolling on her lap, half-unconscious, she gestured for Serena to come over and take her place. She had already given him some ambrosia from her bag and maybe Serena could heal him up faster with her daughter of Apollo abilities. Instead of sitting though, Nezza told them to stand, Alec leaning on her friend for support; she didn't want to take any chances whether or not these girls would end up violent with them so she made sure they were prepared to run or attack.

Constant vigilance, She humourly thought.

The women hurriedly killed the beast with fast and agile atacks that Nezza knew would probably take years for her to perfect. The Hydra disintegrated immediately and the room was suddenly filled with silence as both parties scrutinized each other. Nezza knew that these were the Amazons, the brave race of warrior women from what she read in the myths but the demigod could only think a bunch of extreme feminists standing in front of her.

"What brings you demigods here in our territory?" One of the them inquired and although she was polite, Nezza could see how tense everyone else was, ready for any unsuspecting attacks. Not that she and her friends stood any chance against them, Nezza felt herself go into a defensive stance under their superior gaze.

"We're on a quest." Nezza answered emotionless and she noticed how some of them instantly looked uninterested as if a bunch of children going on quest was quite a normal occurrence for them. She couldn't help but be a bit miffed by that; this was important, lives were at stake here! "And we think it has something to do with the Amazons."

"Oh, really now." Clearly unimpressed, the warrior with dark brown hair and blue, peircing eyes whom Nezza deemed to be the leader of the group, glanced towards her friends and gave a smirk. "But I'm surprised, two girls leading the quest with only one male as a hindrance-- isn't that a first."

Not really expecting that nor was she prepared for it, Nezza blinked confusedly at her before saying, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed, demigod." A red-headed, brown-eyed warrior stepped in, sparing a glower towards Alec's way. "In mostly every quest you half-bloods get to, there seemed to be more of the indecent gender than ours."

Nezza frowned, finding the whole sexist thing a bit too much. "The male side isn't all unpleasant! My friend here is a good example of that. He's one of the best men I know but more than that, he's my friend." She noticed that the other Amazons were watching their little debacle with barely concealed amusement and annoyance on their faces.

The Amazon woman scoffed at her words and said with a snide tone, "After what I've seen today, he's nothing but a useless part in your quest. Beheading a monster like that would have ended with your girl companion's demise had we not stepped in." The way she was glaring at Alec made Nezza stand protectively in front of him and Serena who was still holding on to him.

Nezza inwardly fumed at this woman, hands clenching as she thought, she had no right to say that!"People tend to make mistakes, don't they? How is it that women can get away with it but not the men? I bet you've made a bunch of mistakes in your life that you're not proud of!" There-- she hit it right on the nail.

The red-head looked furious and tense like she wanted to beat the demigod right then and there; she stalked a couple of steps forward instead till she was inches from Nezza's hardened face. "Don't you presume to know me, demigod." She bit out dangerously at her.

The daughter of Nyx just glared right back and replied in kind. "Then don't insult my friends to my face, sexist." She smirked at her and she could see how much that riled the warrior up.

Before the red-head could do anything at her though, the leader, having had enough of their spat, spoke, "Amanda, I think that's enough for now, don't you agree? The girl is obviously not going to concede to the point, no matter how hard you try." It's as if she was referring talking to Nezza like a hard, brick wall.

Well, the feeling's mutual too

The warrior-- Amanda's her name, it seems-- backed down reluctantly though there was a glint in her eye that promised retribution towards Nezza who returned it gladly.

"Now, the matter of the subject has gone way off coarse and I would still like to know why you demigods seem to think that this quest has something to do with us." She inquired skeptically towards their group and Nezza, with a start, realized that too.

How could I get so distracted by a fight?

Nezza cleared her throat to begin telling their tale. "We're here because of the strange things that's been happening lately in Seattle which I think you know about?" She paused to get an indication that the other understood. The leader made a gesture for her to keep going, understanding which events she was talking about.

"And my friends and I know what's causing it, and we think it's being held by someone-- an Amazon, to be precise." Nezza saw from her peripheral vision someone tensing up upon her words.

"You dare accuse us for committing such crimes against mortals--" Of course, Amanda would interrupt her before she could explain.

Nezza snapped, "No, that's not what I'm saying!"

"Then what are you saying, demigod." The leader intervened before a fight could start up again.

Nezza breathed in deeply to calm her nerves before she began recounting to her what she and her companions got up to these past few days, including the blind ghost that led them to where they were now. The Amazons listened to her tale closely and without interruption. She could only hope that they believed her story less their quest ended futilely.

After she was finished, there was a moment of silence where everyone curiously anticipated the leaders thoughts on the matter. Nezza discreetly crossed her fingers behind her back and prayed that she would allow them to their hideout and find the cursed person among their people.

"We will, for now, grant you safe passage to our domain but until we have the agreement of our queen, we cannot allow you to snoop around our headquarters, am I understood?" She lectured them sternly and Nezza almost felt like a student being scolded by a teacher.

Nezza and her friends nodded in agreement and followed with the other Amazons out of the glass building and into another which had a huge sign of AMAZONS displayed in front of it.

The daughter of Nyx could only stare dumbly at it for a second before muttering to herself furiously. "How in Hades name did we miss that?" She completely blamed Alec for this.

There was no other time when Alec felt stupid or vulnerable. As he watched two more heads grow rapidly out of the socket wherein he slashed its head off, he felt all traces of courageousness disappear from him and he sprinted away, he felt dizziness become him due to all the power and energy he had used up. Nezza and Serena probably thought of him as a dumb, moronic demigod. The daughter of Nyx caught him by the collar of his shirt to steady him and he briefly flashed a grateful smile at her. Summoning his weapon, his mind raced with different battle strategies. Now was the right moment when he truly wished he paid attention during one of the many classes they had at Camp Half-Blood. Panic started to bubble at the pit of his stomach when Serena yielded her bow and arrow, pulling the string back with the bow intact. Was she mad? If none of his weapons or powers could kill the monster, than how would a bow and quiver do the job? He was about to open his mouth to call her off, when a few other girls stepped on the scene. Female warriors. The Amazons.

It barely took them two minutes to slay the monster with great skill, stamina, and speed. Silence fell over the demigods and warriors as the monster disintegrated into a pile of golden dust. Just because he didn't pay attention to class, doesn't mean the knew who this group of girls were. He has seen depictions of them in books, but none of the text nor images prepared him to come face to face with the real thing. Alec remained silent the entire time Nezza spoke with them. Occasionally, he'd open his mouth to protest against their accusations against his gender, but Nezza would, surprisingly, retort the Amazons' statements. However, one of the girls' declarations struck a nerve in Alec. Had he been really useless the entire time of their quest? Frowning, he shifted on the balls of his feet. He was responsible for the almost-death of his two companions. Maybe what his parents said about him were true. Perhaps he wasn't good for anything at all.

Alec didn't realize how much he had been pondering about the situation when the Amazons granted them access to their headquarters. As they followed the Amazons, he trailed behind the group, having no intention to be near the warriors who talked badly about him and his gender. Some people didn't have any decency nowadays, he thought bitterly as they entered a glass building, similar to the one they had entered before, the popular website's logo on it. It suddenly dawned on him that the feminists were in charge of the popular website. Remind him to never shop from that online store ever again.

The scene before the demigods almost scarred them for life. Men were treated as prisoners in their headquarters, submissives under the Amazons. He wondered darkly how they got into the situation and pictured himself under the dominance of the Amazons. Alec quickly shook the image away from his head, catching up with Nezza and Serena. "So, uh, since I really wasn't much of help earlier. What are we gonna do now?"

Being sidetracked with curiosity and amazement, Serena didn't bother to hear what the Amazons had to say to Nezza and Alec. First because she didn't do well on meeting people who were intimidating and at the same time she was ticked off with Alec. Only now did the dead give away of the giant sign that spelled out "AMAZONS" occurred to them and if they have seen it earlier, they could have saved themselves of worry on Alec's behalf.

But then it wasn't all the son of Khione's fault. There was still the mist to blame since sometimes it can be so powerful. Like now, for instance, this glass building was able to conceal numerous exotic trees and herbaceous plants with queer designs on its leaves that were nearly sticking out in the entrance. And judging by the distant growls and footsteps, there were probably beasts from the animal kingdom lurking around here. This was insane considering they were actually based in the midst of modern civilization.

The atmosphere grew humid and the red head one led the way to what probably was their so-called village. It felt like they time travelled for a while because they were living in the prehistoric times. No plumbing, a giant fire place like back in camp, citizens dressed in animal skin and of course some hunting tools when they could just get a take out from Taco Bell outside. Other than that, the place looks cool in its own way. The beautiful flowering plants that grew abundantly made it look a bit like paradise...except for the fact that men were slaves here.

These men were doing all the household chores here while they were sweating by the buckets. "You there! Deliver a message to the queen that we have some visitors. Make it quick." Her tone expressed her absolute distaste with males. "Ri-right away, Ma'am!" He rushed to the biggest hut of all with impressive architecture.

Serena glanced at Alec to see what was his reaction with all this. It wasn't going to be easy being in the good side of the Amazons just because of the sheer fact that they had a male companion with them. It wasn't fair.

While waiting, some of the amazons offered refreshments. Some grilled pork and coconut juice. "Help yourselves." The other woman said. Did I miss that she was only speaking to Nezza and Serena? "Here Alec, have some." Serena said rather loudly, making the red haired one glare at her.

Then all of a sudden, the queen finally came with an angered expression in her features. She was beautiful, yes. Her luminous hazel eyes, her sun-kissed skin and her dark mahogany hair harmonized with one another. She was probably about five foot ten and she didn't like the idea that one of her visitors was a dude. "And who might you three be?" She asked with her perfectly arched eyebrow raised, expectant for an answer, which was worthy of her time. [/color]

Nezza didn't know whether to be appalled with the way the Amazons treated their men or beat up one of the Amazon girls in front of her for letting this... disgusting thing happen. The thought of Alec or even Blake becoming a mindless slave for women sickened her stomach and what respect she held for Amazons diminished almost immediately after seeing this. At least Artemis and her hunters don't go trying to look for men to enslave. She finally settled to silently fume to herself as she ignored the other Amazons around her.

Ugh, the sexist of it all!

Nezza smirked when Serena deliberately offered Alec the food given to them in front of the Amazons. She had to stifle her laughter in her hand when the red head chick glared mutinously at her blonde friend and would have pitched in her words of wit if the Queen of Amazons didn't suddenly grace them with her presence.

The daughter of Nyx first thought of her was like seeing a Persian Royalty, with her regal posture, graceful movements and intimidating aura. There left no doubt that she was the Head Authority of a bunch of kick-butting, men enslaving sexists bent to keep the other half of their gender bidding to their will.

Nezza couldn't help the glare she directed at the woman when she asked who they were. Despite her increasing dislike of the Amazons, she couldn't let her temper get the better of her.

"Forgive us for coming at such an unprecedented time...Your Highness." Nezza said courteously though she didn't know how one addressed the Queen of Amazons so she settled with an egotistical title, hoping to appease her and heighten her mood.

Thank the gods for her training towards the elite and royalty.

"My name is Nerezza Ricci, and these are my friends, Serena Vaille and Alec Sanford." The queen took on a nasty look towards Alec and Nezza had to grit her teeth to resist the impulse to blurt gender equality towards her.

"Yes, quite. But that doesn't explain what you were doing near my territory. Demigods were warned entering our area most especially if they happened to be of a different...gender." The Queen said delicately as if to trying not to sound offensive with her words but her expression said it all. The surrounding Amazons sneered deliberately at Alec as if his mere presence brought a threat towards them.

"We are demigods on a quest. And our prophecy led us to your people. I'm sure you have heard all about the states increasing missing people and gold popping up in random places?" Nezza said.

The Queen seemed to stiffen at her words but not obviously so that it would have brought alarm to anyone who wasn't watching her reaction. As it is, her mouth tightened in a line and she spoke in hushed tones to one of the Amazons to her right. A blonde haired, tall, slightly muscled girl nodded to what ever was said and left before the Queen directed her attention back them.

"I believe we have some matters that need to be discussed." She finally said then turned on her heel and started walking to another building adjacent to the Queen's tent. "Follow me."

Just when Nezza started walking, her hopes rising that they might actually get some answers through this, a commotion behind her made her pause and turned to find the red head glaring at Alec, holding out her sword to keep him from following them and Serena snapping at them for doing so.

"He's not worthy in our Queen's presence much less follow her! If i were you girl, I'd put a collar in his next to keep him in line before he tries to take any...spoiling acts towards you. " The girl was saying to Serena and before her friend could reply, Nezza stepped in, holding out the sword away with her dagger.

"Oh shut your stupid, prejudice sexism for a moment and shove it up to somebody who gives a damn because he's my friend and part of this quest and you don't get a damn say what he's worthy and not unworthy of!" Nezza snapped at the girl, her darkness inside quickly filling her rage and her previous negative emotions from the whole day.

The girl however was blind from her anger. "You don't know what men like them are capable of, you stupid girl! You're still young and foolish to-" Nezza wanted nothing at that moment more to release her madness and aim it at the bratty, little snot in front of her.

But before she could do any damage, the Queen's voice cut through their argument. "Ashley! Let the boy go. The sooner they get on with this quest, the faster they'll be out of our sight."

The red head immediately lowered her sword, however grudgingly and glared at them as they passed and followed the Queen again. Nezza breathed in and out deeply to soothe her nerves and lowered her eyes lest anyone caught their sudden darkening after the argument.

Gods almighty, she could have blown her temper back there! She needed to keep it together and hope that she wouldn't have anymore encounters with that brat ever again.

When they arrived in the building, they were greeted to a sight of a huge circular room with elaborate designs, tall columns and brilliant chandeliers that looked like a rich ballroom but was changed into a throne room for the Amazons. On dais, seating on a grand chair was the Queen, waiting for them to come forward and address their issue.

However, they were not alone in the room.

Twenty or so Amazon warriors were either perched, sitting or standing around the room, eyeing them critically as they stepped towards the middle of the room. The blonde girl from before was standing to the right of the Queen like a chancellor or something.

"I have brought with me the women who have for the past couple of months accompanied me or went into hunts during the time of the attacks and none of them has ever saw no hind or hair of who could possibly be our culprit." The Queen stated, looking around the room imperiously then staring at Nezza and her friends with a piercing eye. "We do not know anything or have anything to do with this mystery surrounding our state so I hope that it was enough to suffice you to leave before anymore...squabble between your companions and my Amazons happen again."

"Wait!" Nezza couldn't believe that she wanted to dismiss them so hurriedly. "We were brought here by a ghost who saw the culprit who's been doing this. However, whatever brought his death made him mad first and we think it was an object of some kind. A stolen relic from Midas."

Silence permeated through the room after her words but she continued, trying to maintain a cool facade all the while. "And we think one of your Amazons have stolen it and has been using it in secret for these past few months."

Nezza knew that when she uttered those words, all hell would break loose...funny how they already gone through it and back.